Detailed sound, price.

Occational distorted sound in right and rear speakers when playing from digital source.

Any idea what could be causing a clicking sound in my right speaker when I play a certain CD? To the receiver I have connected a HK 8350 CD player, and I Pioneer DVD player. The clicking sound occurs when I play one of my son’s CD’s (“Hooray For Boobies” by Bloodhound Gang). It only happens when I play the CD in a device connected to a digital input and use the Logic 7C mode in the receiver. Does not matter if I use coaxial or optical cables, or what particular optical input I use. I heard the clicking noise with other DVDs/CDs before but very rarely. I think that there is a problem with the optical inputs of the receiver. What do you think?

For the most part I am extremely satisfied with the sound quality of this receiver.

Looks, Performance

Size

I haven't had any problems with this receiver so far. I looked carefully for volume control as some of the reviewers had posted it as a problem. I did not have one. May be HK fixed it. It is Manufacted in May 2000. I got it for $599 from Cambridge. And this is worth of every penny.

I would recommend it to anybody for this price. I had some problems setting it up because I am not a pro. I am playing this up with CSW 5.1 and I feel that I should upgrade my front speakers to the towers.

I could not play it above -10 volume and it sounds terrific. Especially some action scenes from Negotiator. You should watch it on Logic 7M, it's awesome.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz-4000, Marantz-5000

nice sound about 35db

clicking niose when turning up volume, over priced

When I first purchased my receiver I was excited,but when I pluged it in I was highly disappionted. As soon as I hooked it up, I put in a CD and I noticed the clicking noise when I turned up the volume, then I put in a DVD and the center speaker did not sound well at all. I felt like taking this product back the same day. A few days later I found audio review.com and I noticed alot of HK AVR500 users have the same problems. I think this reciever is over priced it should be more around $449.99 for all the defects. P.S. I used JBL speakers with this receiver.

Similar Products Used:

yamaha

Great features and sound. Plenty of kick

Speaker buzz in DTS mode

I purchased this unit at the start of the year. I have been extremely happy with the unit with the exception of one MAJOR flaw. I have been experiencing the speaker "buzz" while playing DTS DVDs that was mentioned by some other reviewers. This problem is intermittant but very annoying since I'm a big fan of DTS. I'm working with HK customer service to get a new unit. I'm very pleased with the receiver in every other way. Too bad this severe problem exists on the some of the units. I'm hoping that mine is just a lemon.

Flexibility, power

Remote control firmware, not-so-clean composite video switching

First thing's first: This thing has cojones. It reminds me a lot of my old Denon -- effortless power that stays clean until you run up against its deceptively (for its rated power output) high limit.

Here's the system:

AVR500
Sony DVP-S360 DVD player (optical to AVR500)
HK FL8350 CD changer (coax to AVR500)
Old Sony VCR
Polk Monitor 6's
Velodyne CT1200
JVC 32" idiot box

The Polks have served me well through the years, but I didn't have any idea how much they were being shortchanged by my old Sony receiver until I fired them up with the HK. (For those of you who laugh at those speakers, they measure +- 3dB 55-17.5K @ 2 meters IN-ROOM with my LinearX LMS. Not bad for $199 5 years ago. :P ) My non-audio inclined girlfriend's comment was "it doesn't even sound like the same system". HUGE difference in detail, image, punch, you name it. In fact, it may be a bit *too* bright and detailed -- though this may be a case of the electronics revealing flaws in the speakers.

Other pros:

Lotsa gozintas and gozoutas -- it's as future-proof as anything can be these days.

Vmax mode is very nice with DVD's. I don't run a center channel or surround speakers, so this mode is much appreciated.

Good build quality.

Cons:

The one thing my old Sony receiver did right was video switching. I could detect no difference in the picture quality of DVD playback between the composite video signal that was switched by the receiver and the S-video signal that went directly from the DVD to the TV. Not so with the
HK -- the composite video signal is now somewhat fuzzier than the direct S-video. No big deal, but somewhat disappointing. I'm not a videophile, so YMMV...

The remote does in fact run all of the components in the system, but there are some oddities like the "set" button not working with the DVD -- you have to use "play" to make menu selections. There are other mis-mapped keys, and it took a fair amount of exploration before I figured out where those functions really were vs. what the manual said they would be. Not a big deal, but annoying nonetheless. Even more obnoxious is the fact that the macro keys actually have hard-coded functions when in any mode except receiver control. In other words, you have to switch to "AVR" mode before using any of them. Bah!

It may be my speakers, but the sound quality, though vastly better than my old receiver, may be a bit on the bright side. It's not the source, because it sounds the same on both analog and digital inputs from the CD (2 different players). Time and testing will tell. In the meantime, a slight downward adjustment of the treble control is a near-complete fix.

The manual sucks. Example: There is a diagram of the remote control with numbers on each of the buttons that are referred to in the text. After about ten seconds of total confusion, it became apparent that the diagram was completely wrong. This is just dumb. Whatever. Being a Real Man(tm), I don' need no steenkin' manual.

Neutral:

Yes, the volume control clicks audibly (though not loudly) when there is no signal present. It is very subtle when you're actually playing something. If you mess around continuously with the volume control, it may be an issue for you. I don't, so it doesn't bug me at all.

I read these reviews before buying the unit, and I'm taking a wait-and-see approach to the whole reliability issue...

Digital synch-up isn't always instantaneous. I don't do a lot of stop-starts, so this is a non-issue for me. Also, HK seems to have omitted zero-crossing detection because there are minor clicks and pops when digital sources are stopped (usually, mostly with DVD) and started (sometimes).

On-screen display is pretty much useless since it follows the same logic as the unit's front panel display; in other words, there is no hierarchy to the menu system. I never cared for the idea of using my TV as a user interface to my stereo, so BFD.

Overall feeling:

Every piece of gear has shortcomings, and I'm happy that this unit's problems mostly lie in the realm of the user interface. The audio performance exceeded my expectations. This is what really counts for me, so I'm a happy camper.
Score 3 stars for value (this is a crowded segment with a lot of quality competition) and 4 stars overall for the audio performance and flexibility.

Similar Products Used:

Old bogus Sony prologic receiver, great old Denon

2nd review. See below

Volume knob, although it is fixed now

I submitted a 5 star review of this product first on March, 2000 according to the performance of the receiver at that moment.

Some time later the volume knob started failing when turning it manually to the degree that it was impossible to operate it by hand, since at the lightest touch increased or decreased the volume on its free will. Also the volume knob has the feel of a very cheap product. A 100 USD AIWA stereo has a better feel in the volume knob in front to this receiver.

One day the volume raised by itself really high, and I mean really high.

I took the receiver to the importer in Mexico and he fixed it. The repair was quite simple: cleaning of potentiometer and reinforcement of front panel weldings.

After this repair the receiver has performed now well for several months without any problem.

During the repair period I reinstalled my old HK AVR 70 receiver and then I could find some weaknesses of the AVR 500:

Pro-logic decoding is poor in the AVR 500 in front of the AVR 70, although this can be compensated by using the more interesting LOGIC7C mode. This works well analog sources such as TV/DSS, and VHS, but it becomes a problem when DVD's with 2/0 channels are used, since the receiver automatically switches to Pro-logic, showing the weak Pro-Logic decoding.

Composite video switching is also poor. The AVR 70 has very good composite video switching in front of the AVR 500.

Bass is better with the AVR 70, although the possibility of calibration of the subwoofer output in the AVR 500 may compensate this.

The way the AVR 500 is performing today makes me believe that no further problem should appear. It usually works 6 or more hours per day and is doing it very well.

Although the AVR 500 has a very good sound, it showed me that some quality aspects are not the same anymore when compared to an older HK product as the AVR 70 that has never failed in two years. If new HK receivers may combine the sound of features of the new receivers and the build quality of older receivers like the AVR 70 then HK would have almost perfect products.

Similar Products Used:

HK AVR 70, OLD SONY STR 1020

Bass, Lower Mid-range detail, timing

Poor remote, size, no A + B speaker terminals

I used to swear by H/K products for many years. I bought my first H/K product when I was 16! A stereo 70 watt per channel amp, H/K CD player, driving JBL LX60's. I later upgraded to a H/K Pro-Logic amp and I always felt that the H/K stuff had really good sound, well-controlled bass and outstanding treble.

I recently purchased a new A/V set up after practically giving away the old H/K Pro-logic amp and JBL's:

Pioneer DV717
Sony STR-DA50ES (after owning an STR DB930 for one day - it was absolute crap - really vague fuzzy music)
B+W DM603s2
B+W Centre
Bose Rears

I liked the Sony receiver because of it's high power output (5 x 120 watts into 8 ohms) and raft of features. Midrange and soundstaging were magnificent but it lacked the bass that I was used to with the H/K stuff.

My local hi-fi/HT dealer lent me an AVR500 to try out and immediately I noticed that the bass was MUCH better. Music had a much better sense of pace but a great deal was lost when it came to projecting the sound - vocals sounded muffled, guitars lacked attack. In short everything was over-whelmed by the lower-midrange and bass.

I was disappointed by the lack of A + B speaker posts which proved to be a pain when it came to biwiring. Additionally, the remote wasn't the most ergonomic bit of design I had come across, a mass of buttons placed on a bit of plastic at random.

Disappointed, I took the H/K back to the dealer and hooked my Sony receiver back up. I immediately realised that, while the bass was a bit thin, everything else that mattered was there. It's a shame really, because I used to think that H/K were true hi-fi products. It just goes to show how things change.

In order to improve things in stereo I've just ordered a Rotel RB991 (2 x 200watt high current) power amp. I can't wait.

Similar Products Used:

H/K AV200 Pro-Logic Amp, H/K CD player

Just a good solid performer

see below and remote

I ahve had my AVR for almost 1 year now and I must say that I love this reciever. I ahve not experienced any problems with the volume control that many are having. The ONLY issue I ahve had is on DTS I have experienced some crackling in the sound and some drop out, Although this may be due to the DVD player or the DVDs themselves they were rentals. If anyone has had similiar problems please email me. I must say that I would recomend this reciever to anyone based on my experience with the product.

Similar Products Used:

onkyo 676 and pioneer vsx21

Bass, Lower Mid-range detail, timing

Poor remote, size, no A + B speaker terminals

I used to swear by H/K products for many years. I bought my first H/K product when I was 16! A stereo 70 watt per channel amp, H/K CD player, driving JBL LX60's. I later upgraded to a H/K Pro-Logic amp and I always felt that the H/K stuff had really good sound, well-controlled bass and outstanding treble.

I recently purchased a new A/V set up after practically giving away the old H/K Pro-logic amp and JBL's:

Pioneer DV717
Sony STR-DA50ES (after owning an STR DB930 for one day - it was absolute crap - really vague fuzzy music)
B+W DM603s2
B+W Centre
Bose Rears

I liked the Sony receiver because of it's high power output (5 x 120 watts into 8 ohms) and raft of features. Midrange and soundstaging were magnificent but it lacked the bass that I was used to with the H/K stuff.

My local hi-fi/HT dealer lent me an AVR500 to try out and immediately I noticed that the bass was MUCH better. Music had a much better sense of pace but a great deal was lost when it came to projecting the sound - vocals sounded muffled, guitars lacked attack. In short everything was over-whelmed by the lower-midrange and bass.

I was disappointed by the lack of A + B speaker posts which proved to be a pain when it came to biwiring. Additionally, the remote wasn't the most ergonomic bit of design I had come across, a mass of buttons placed on a bit of plastic at random.

Disappointed, I took the H/K back to the dealer and hooked my Sony receiver back up. I immediately realised that, while the bass was a bit thin, everything else that mattered was there. It's a shame really, because I used to think that H/K were true hi-fi products. It just goes to show how things change.

In order to improve things in stereo I've just ordered a Rotel RB991 (2 x 200watt high current) power amp. I can't wait.

Similar Products Used:

H/K AV200 Pro-Logic Amp, H/K CD player

see below

see below

Well, I just wanted to update everyone on my HK AVR500. Still using it all the time, still loving it.

I have been using it for almost 2 months now and haven't noticed any of the problems that others are complaining about. This unit still sounds really really sweet.

It did shut itself off twice (on different days) during the first week that I owned it (after about 1.5-2 hours of straight DVD with quite a bit of volume). It hasn't done it since so I don't know what to attribute it to.

I use the thing all the time and frequently leave it on for many hours at a time. No volume control issues.

I don't know how Jeremy B. got this unit for $420, maybe he's thinking of the AVR300. The AVR500 retails for $799, AVR300 for $599. I paid $650 from Circuit City and I did buy the extended warranty (just in case).

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that I'm still very happy with my receiver.

Similar Products Used:

see below